Guide to Tradeshow Exhibiting Tips & Best Practices

Summary: Tradeshows can be a powerful marketing and sales tool that enable companies of all sizes to compete cost-effectively against any organization. Here are a few tips can help you get the best results from your investment in tradeshow marketing.

Set Goals:

Here are most common top 5 reasons exhibitors participate in tradeshows:
- Collect qualified leads from prospective customers.
- Launch new products or relaunch existing products.
- Meet with current customers, build relationships and/or write orders.
- Conduct research among your target audience.
- Find partner organizations.

Exhibit at only the “Right Shows”

Make sure your marketing team asks the right questions of show organizers before your sign a contract.
- Describe the event to me and what makes it different?
- Request buyer demographics from the prior show.
- Which industry magazines and online partners participate as sponsors - Identify marketing tools included as part of the basic exhibit package or at low cost.

Conduct pre-show activities:

- Make sure your booth graphics are very clear.
- Train booth team on products relevant to the show’s target market.
- Conduct “booth selling” skills session.
- Empower a “booth leader”.
- Encourage daily team meetings
- Provide incentives for achieving your goals
- Schedule rest breaks to keep your booth team fresh.
- Banish cell phones from your booth.
- Never break down your booth before the show ends.
- Record all qualified leads and specific follow-up action items required.

Critical Post-Show Follow-up:

- Create a database of all qualified leads.
- Follow-up with qualified leads within 48 hours of show closing.
- Hold a post-show team meeting to identify how to improve future shows.

Contact us at howard@hftradeshow.com


Action Steps
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